Theatrical device.



No. 873,315. PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907. THE GREAT LAFAYETTE. THEATR'IGALDEVICE.

' n In. LY 1 PATENTED DEC. 10, 19-07.

THE GREAT LAFAYETTE.

THEATRIGAL DEVICE.

APPLICATION nun JULY 1. 1905. I I

3 SHEETS-SHEET z.

4,; ATTORNEY f 1%. 873,315. 3 PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

- THE GREAT LAFAYETTE.

THEATRIGAL DEVICE.

APPLIOATIQN FILED JULY 1, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F 6 FRO/VT FFMT WITNESSES: INVENTOR flf fwfwm b BY QaQS, g L

M ATTORNEY j St-ate of New York, have invented ther shows the exit lionshut in the rear compartment and fur I. tails and withthe 2 withadditional 'THE GREAT LAFAYETTE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

THEATRICAL DEVICE.

' Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed Jul, 1. 1905.Serial No. 268,010.

Patented Dec. 10, 19o7.

To all whom it may concern: 1 Be it known that I, THE GREAT LAFA- YETTE,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough ofBrooklyn, city and certain new and useful Theatrical Devices, of whichthe following is a specification. My present invention relates totheatrical devices, whereby I am able to produce the effect, first, of alion hunt and the capture of a live lion; and, second, the feeding of aperson, a parently, to said live lion. These effects accomplish by meansof the a paratus illustrated in the accompanying awings, wherein YFigure 1 is a front view of acage embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a rearview with parts broken. away to illustrate certain derearcompartment'shown in dotted line'sjf Fig: '3 a view similar to Fig.

parts broken away to illustrate further details; Fig. 4, a scenic reresentation of the devices whereby'I simu ate the lion hunt; Fig. 5 adetail showing fea-' tures hereinafter to be described; Figs. 6 to 12,inclusive, are diagrammatic views to illustrate the mode of operation ofmy apparatus. In these figures, Fig. 6' shows the ap paratus with thelion in themain-cage; Fig. 7 shows the partition closed to divide themain cage into two compartments with the lion in the lefthandcompartmentissFig. 8 shows the real and the sham door-in' the partitiono en with the lion passing through into the rig t-hand compartment Fig.9 shows the real and the sham-doors closed with the lion in theright-hand compartment and a person entering through an open door intothe left-hand. .com artmengt Fig. 10 shows the sh'am'door in t epartition open; it furdoor for the hon into the rear compartment openwith the lion passing into the said compartment; and additionally showsthe entrance door forthe sham animal into the left-hand side of the cage'0 en with the sham animal entering; Fig. 1 1 s ows the ther shows thefront ofthe left-hand side of the cage thrown'down with the sham animalpouncingupon the person; Fig. 12' is the same-as Fig. 11 withtheexception that the lion is shownmaking hisreturn entrance into themain cage and into the view of the audience through an open door betweenthe rear compartment and the .main cage. Fig. 13, a

7 detail of a form ofrobe or costume used in some of hinged at thecenter, as s connection with the apparatus; Fig. 14, an

enlarged sectional view,'partly in elevation,

to illustrate the locking action of the pins 9;

and Fig. 15, a top plan view of the doors in the artition of the cageshown in Fig. 3.

T e accompanying drawings illustrate the forms which my invention matake, and in them the same numerals of re erence have been usedthroughout to designate corresponding arts.

I will first descri e the apparatus itself, and thereafter its mode ofoperation, and then claims.

Describing, now, the apparatus, 1, 2 and 3 show. a cageof suitableroporti'ons and strength for holdi a lion. 4 h s cage is pg'ovided witha partition 1 which may be nged at 2 to the back of the cage, theobpoint out the novel features in the ject being to beable to give thelion the freedom of e entire cage by opening the partition, or, ifdesired, to imprison the lion n either end of the cage by swinging thepart1- tion across the cage and looking it in place. In the rear of thepartition, and at the bottom thereof, is provided a swinging gratin 3 toallow the lion to pass from one side of t e cage to the other when thepartition is in place. In the construction shown, thisgrat-j mg canswing in one direction only, to-wit,

in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. Means 4 is provided for lockingthe grating in closed position. A second swinging door 51s provided,consisting of a late of sheet 11'011 own, so as to make two leaves, eachof approximately the size of the swinging grating. This nontransparentsheet-iron door will hereafter be called the false door, because as amatter of fact it has no real function of controlling the opening in thepartition, this being done by the swingin grating 3 which, therefore, isproperly terme the true door. The false door has the function ofconcealing this true door and of givlng the audience the impression thatwhen the passfalse door is open, the lion is free to from one side ofthe cage to the other, although, of .course, this impression is false,since the real door or gratingconcealed by the false door, is shut.

A spiral spring 6 is provided (see Figs. 3 & 15), the free ends of whichengage respectively with the rear side of the false door, and

with the left side of the swinging grating, whereby when the false dooris sw into open position by an attendant outsi e the holes in the top ofthe cage and correspond-- ing holes in the top of the grating. It willbe obvious that these pins when withdrawn Wlll permit the entire frontof this side of the cage to fall out in the direction of the arrows inFig. 1. To operate these locking pins conveniently from the rear of thecage, I support them, as shown, from levers 1O centrally ivoted at 11and rovided at their rear ends P is with cords 12 to w ch is attached asuitable handle. 13. Obviously, upon pulling this handle downward thepins will be withdrawn and the front of the cage unlocked. In this sameremovable front last referred to I preferably provide the swinging door14. At the rear of the eagle, and on the same side of the partition as te swin g door last referred to, I provide another dh dr 15 which willpreferably be sliding, as shown. On the other side of the partition, andalso at the rear of the cage, I additionally provide the swinging doors16 and 17. The first door 16 swings only outwardly and is controlled bya spring 18 which tends at all times to close the door automatically.The other door swings inwardly, as shown, and may be operated from theoutside of the cage by any suitable device, such as that illustrated andcom rising the parts 19 and 20, working through t e slot or opening 21in the side of the cage.

In Fig. 5, I show a vertical section, and'in Figs. 6 11012, a top planview of an auxiliary lion. This box communicates at its bottom box orcage 22 which is adapted to communicate with the rear of one half of themain cage, so as to-receive the lion when the door 16 is open. See Fig.10.

A box 23 is provlded. on top of the main cage, and is of a size suitableto contain a live with the main cage, throu h a trap-door 24 in the topof said cage, w ereby when said trap-door is released and allowed toswing about the hinges 25 the lion is dropped into the cage.

The means for controlling the operation of the trap-door mayconveniently take the form illustrated, where 26,is an L-shaped memberpivoted at 27 to the top of the cage,

1 one arm of the L-shaped member being royided with the projectingmembers 28 w 'ch pass throu prO ect un er the ed e of the trap-door toact as supports. The ot er arm of the L-sha ed member acts as a handleand when pu led to the rear, withdraws the projecting mem bers fromunder the trap-door and allows same to drop.

In Fig. 1 the box 23 just described is h holes in the top of the cageand shown in position on the top of the cage, and with a scenicrepresentation arranged about the cage 'to make it look like a liontrap. As features additional to this part of the apparatus, I providepoles 29 one on each side of the cage. Between thzse'poles I suspend awire 30. hand pole and works over a pulley 31 on the ri lit-hand pole,and its free end is provided with a handle 32. On this wire I suspend aproperty or dummy lion 33 in such fashion that it can freely slide alongthe wire. Any means that will accomplish this result may be employed,such, for instance, as screweyes or bolts secured to the lion with thewire passed through the eyes of the screws or bolts.

I will now describe the mode of operation of my apparatus, and willbegin with the lion hunt, resulting in the capture, apparently, of alivelion. To bring about this illusion, I may employ stage settingssomething like that indicated in Fig. 4, the object being to give thecage the ap earance of a lion trap concealed in the jung e. The box 23on the top of the cage is shown in dotted lines and contains a live lionand will, of course, be suitably concealed from view by appropriatestage settings. v

'lhe scene will open with the hunters and the other accessories-of alion hunt and the property lion will be in the position shown in dottedlines at 34 and concealed from view behind the scenery. In the course ofthe hunt, the handle 32 on the end of the wire ulled so as to throw thewill be suddenly llOIl on the wire lngh 1n the an, and make it seem tolea in full view of the audience down into t e trap, the lion, ofcourse, sliding on the wire. At the same instant the tra door in the topof the cage is released, an the live lion dropped into the cage. Thecombined effect on the audience will be that of a real lion leapingthrough the air into the trap, where 'he is seen captured.

Describing, now, the operation of my apparatus, whereby I produce theeffect of apparently feedin a woman to a live hon, this part of theperiormance will preferably follow the-ca ture of the -lion, as abovedescribed, an will form part of some a propriate plot. To make clearthis part 0 any description, I refer to the accompanying dra rammaticviews, Figs. 6 to 12, inclusive. 11 these views the .full arrowdesignatesthe live lion, the dotted arrow 9. man disguised as a lion,and the arrow with the circle the erson, usually awoman, who is supposedto e fed to the lion. In Fig. 6 the lion 1s shown in the cage with thecentral partition folded back so as to give him the full freedom of thecage. All the appurtenances of the cage are shown diagrammatically, andare as previously described and illustrated. The actors pull forward thecentral partltion This Wire is secured to the left 4 shown in Fig. 7.vThe real and false doors, are then opened and the lion, in full view ofand lock it across the cage, thereby securing the lion in theleft-handcompartment, as

the audience, allowed to pass through the opening in the artition intothe other side of the cage, as s own in Fig. 8. Both doors which is nowopened for this purpose. This trolled by door is then closed and thefalse door opened, thereby apparently to the audience opening up thehole in the partition so as to allow the lion to pass through to thewoman. Asa matter of fact, however, he cannot do so, because the realdoor. 3 in the partition is closed, as shown in Fig. 10, and what hedoes do is to pass back of the false door and through the swinging door16 into the box- 22 behind the cage, wherein he is securely retained bysaid last named door springing back into closed position. At the sameinstant that the real lions tail disappears behind the false door, a mandisguised in a lions skin ushes through the opening conthe sliding doorin the other side of the cage, and emerges to the view of the audience.Thus as the real lions tail disappears behind the false door, the shamlions lead ap ears to the audience on the other .side of t 1e falsedoor, thereby creating the illusion that the real lion is passing throuh the openingin the partition to reach the woman. All this is showndiagrammatically in Fig. 10. The sham lion having pounced on the woman,the front of the cage falls out and then to reassure the audience thelion skin is thrown off and the trick revealed. At the same instant, thereal lion is seen secure in the other side of the cage, into which hehas been returned from the auxiliary cage through the door. Compare Fig.12.

In order that the audience may not suspect the presence of the auxiliarycage 22 behind the main cage, due to the fact that the main cage on thisside will be obstructed and cannot be looked through by the audiencelike the other side, I provide draperies 35 (see Figs. 5 & 13) of silk,or other material, be-

t een the main'cageand the auxiliary cage,

concealing the latterfrom the audience, and corresponding with thecostume of one or more men 36 who appear to the audience to be standinat the back of the cage and looking throug it, as indicated by thedotted lines. As a matter of fact, however, these men are lying flat ontop of the auxiliary cage, being supported thereby, as shown in Fig. 5.To create this illusion of men standing behind the cage, and therebyobstructin the view of the audience through the cage, I prefer to employdraperies of thegeneral nature shown in Fig. 13 where it willbe seen toconsist of a sleeved garment provided with a spring clip 37 at the neckto form a convenlent means of attachment to the wearer, and beingfurther provided with a flowing skirt portion adapted to hang downbetween the main cage and the auxiliary cage to conceal the presence ofthe latter, allas setforth above.

Obviously, I do not intend to limit myself to carrying out the aboveeffects. and illusions with a lion, since of course other ani mals canbe substituted and the trick otherwise varied in a number of details.

What I claim is 1. In a theatrical device, the combination of two cage-compartments located ad a cently with the division between thecompartments endwise to the audience and communicating with each otherby an opening; a real door adapted to control said opemng; 'a doorcalled for convenience an entrance .door, controlling an opening in therear wall relative to the audience of one of said compartments; a doorcalled for conveniencean of a cage divided into two compartments by apartition located end-wise to the audience; said artition provided withan opening theret ough; a swinging real door adapted to control saidopening; a swinging nontransparent false'door hinged in front of saidreal door and adapted to conceal said door from the audience; a dooradapted to control an opening in the rear'wall relative to the audienceof one of the compartments and concealed from the audience by the falsedoor when the same is in open position;- and a door adapted tocontrol anopening in therear wall 0 the other compartment and likewise concealedfrom the audience by the false door when the same is in open position.

3. In a theatrical device, the combination of two cage-compartmentslocated adja.-

cently with the division between them endwise to the'audience; a doorcalled for convenience an exit door, controlling an opening. in the rearwall relative to the audience of one of the compartments; a door calledfor convenience an entrance door controlling an opening in the rear wallof the other compartment; a false door in the partition apparentlycontrolling an opening in said partition and adapted when in openposition to conceal said exit and entrance doors from'the audience.

. 4. -In a theatrical device the combination of two cage-compartmentslocated adjacently with the division between the compartments endwise tothe audience; a nontransparent member adapted to be located transverselyto the division between the compartments and to project into theirrespective interiors; a door adapted to control an opening'inthe rearWall relative to the audience of one of the compartments and locatedbehind the non-transparent member; anda door adapted to control anopening in the rear wall of the other compartment and located behind thenon-transparent member.

5'. In a theatrical device the combination of two cage-compartmentslocated adja cently with the division between the compartments endwiseto the audience; a nontransp'arent member adapted to be locatedtransversely to the division between the compartments and to projectinto their respective interiors; a door called for convenience anentrance door adapted to control an opening in the rear wall relative tothe audience of one of the compartments and located behind thenon-transparent member; a door called for convenience an exit dooradapted to control an opening in the rear wall of the other compartmentand located behind the non-transparent member; and a third compartmentlocated behind the cagecompartment having the exit door and incommunication therewith. V

6. In a theatrical device the combination of two cagecompartmentslocated adjacently with the division between the compartments endwise tothe audience; a nontransparent member ada ted to be located transverselyto the divlsion between the compartments and to project into their respective interiors; a door called for convenience an entrance dooradapted to contol an opening in the rear wall relative to the audienceof one of the compartments and located behind the non-transparentmember; a door called for convenience an exit door adapted to controlanopening in the rear wall of the other compartment and located behindthe non-transparent member; a third compartment located behind thecage-compartment having the exit door and 1n communication therewith;and material in front of said third compartment adapted to con ceal saidcompartment from the audience and to appear to be part of the costume ofa person behind the cage 7. In a theatrical device the combination cagetoward the audience; and

of two cage-compartments located 'adjacently with the division betweenthe compartments endwise to the audience; a nontransparent member adated-to be located transversely to the division between the compartmentsand to project into their respective interiors; a door called forconvenience an entrance door adapted to control an opening in the rearwall relative to the audience of one of the compartments and locatedbehind the non-transparent member; a door called for convenience an exitdoor adapted to control an opening in the rear wall of the othercompartment and located behind the non-transparent member; a lowcompartment located behind the cage-compartment having the exit'door and1n communication therewith, the said low compartment being adapted tosupport a person on its top in prone position lookin through thematerial in front of said low compartment adapted to conceal it from theaudience and to appear to be part of the costume of the person lying ontop of the low compartment.

8. In a theatrical device the combination of two cage -compartmentslocated adjacently with the division between the compartments endwise tothe audience and communicating with each other by an opening; a dooradapted to close said opening; a door called an entrance doorcontrolling an open- 'ing in the rear wall relative to the audience ofone of said compartments; a door called an exit door adapted to controlan opening in the rear wall of the other compartment and arranged toswing outwardly into a third compartment located behind the compartmenthaving the exit door; said third compartment; means adaptedautomatically to close the exit door; and a false door apparentlycontrolling tce opening between the two cage-compartments and adapted toconceal the exit and entrance doors from the audience.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

THE GREAT LAFAYETTE. I

Witnesses:

E. W, SCHERR, Jr., HENRY R. BAUER.

